Crystal River current., 1887-07-02
LEFT IN THE PIT.


the home of my bethrothed. But my
horse was good and l rode hard.
might be at Trevesy by nightfall.
There was sprinkle of snow on the
ground, and feathery shower fell
lightly around me, of which l thought
nothing till sunset. The short, dark
day was over at 5 o'clock. and at
that hour asharp wind sprang up and
the snow began falling thickly. I felt
somewhat blinded by the big flakes,
ever flying downward and onward and
around me, like cold, patient army.
whose onslaught could never be stay
ed or driven back.
Still pushed on, though the beast
rode shook and trembled and strove,
in his dumb way, to reason against
my headstrong will. And now, with
some dismay, suddenly perceived by
the sinking of my horse even to his
TANKS in heaped snow, that, bewil-
dered by the whiteness, he and had
lost the road. 1t was but q rough
one at the best, for l was in a wild
country, where mines were many and
men few. Extricating my poor steed
from the drifted snow wherein he
foundered, I rested him a moment
and shouted for help. Again and
again my cry came back to me, fol
lowing on the wings Of the cold wind,
but no other sound broke the deathly
stiffness of the night.
Oh, for the saving light in some
charitable window! But there was
none-only snow and darkness, dark
ness and snow all around. Thought
it terrible, and yet in a little span of
time from this l would have deemed
it paradise to be lying lonely in the
heaped snow upon this drear moor.
put my horse to q sharp canter,
and he went about a furlong blindly,
then stood still, snorting with terror.
to obey either whip or spur. Seeing
stubbornness, l spurred him sharply,
and urged him with angry voice to
obedience. His wonderful obstinacy
compelled me at length to dismount,
and, with drawn sword III my hand,
prepared for highwayman orfootpad,
I dragged him onward by the bride.
Upon this he made one hasty plunge
forward, then stopped, and at the
same instant the earth went from be-
Meath my feet and l fell-fell knew
not whittier, down, down into the
deep darkness Questionable, terrible
as the great pit. l can scarcely say
whether thought as l fell, yet KNEW
was going to death-knew l was de-
scendinR one of those unused shafts
that lie on many a Cornish moor
knew that my bones would be I'M
thought of in its dismal depths forever.
But even at that instant my flight
was arrested, and hung in mid air,
clinging by my hands, to what l knew
not. 1t was my sword, which l had
forgotten that Iheld. By miracle it
had thrust itself, as fell beneath the
earth and the rocks, in the side OF the
shaft, and, jammed fast it held me up.
cannot explain how this occurred.
only know that it was SO. As the
cry for mercy escaped my lips the mer-
cy came. My sword caught in the in
terstices of the rock and was held up,
my feet dangling over the abyss, and
my hands clinging to the hilt OF my
good blade. 1t was as firm as q wedge;
could feel that in spite OF my trem-
bling, yet my position was horrible.
to remain thus, to hold on, was tor
ture unutterable. but to yield, even for
a moment, was death. There was no
hope for relief even for hours; there
was no possibility of relief OF posture;
there was nothing but strong endur-
ance and courage to carry me through.
I waited, suffered, prayed.
1t was q night to me of fire. The
winds blew and the snow fell, but the
cold touched me not. Ihad fallen too
deeply in the shaft for that, even if
my tortured blood could have felt it.
Morning broke at last, and hope
grew with it. At intervals had call
ed aloud through the night, and now
with scarcely an intermission, raised
my voice in cries for help. did this
till WEAKNESS stopped me, and rest
ed in agonized hope of voice in reply:
There was none. No sound reached
ed again, again, again. l husbanded
my voice. 1 drew in my breath and
shouted with the strength of despair.
There was no answer.
The sun Travelled upward, and
knew it was high noon, though to me
the stars were visible likewise; yet the
midday rays shone somewhat into
the shaft and showed me how l hung
The pit was quite perpendicular; it
sloped slightly from my feet upward,
and / had found rest for one foot on
the ledge of the rock. o, the ease of
my anguish from this inerciful rest!
Tears sprang to my eyes as thanked
God for it.
The sun had shown me that to climb
out OF the pit unaided was impossible,
so called for help again, and called
until my voice failed me. I ceased to
cry, and night fell on me again.
As the hours crept on a kind OF mad
below: horrible ewes riared on me, But